News Item

Solent Branch News June 2013

The Solent Branch 2012 /13 season has once again been busy and successful. Now is the time to review our recent activities and plan for the future.

The Solent region is RIN's busiest with a total of 18 events in the past 12 months in variety of locations covering a wide range of topics, reflecting the RIN's interest in navigation at sea. on land and in the air. It is worth noting that local RIN events were held 12 different locations across the region ranging from Tangmere Air Museum in the east to the Royal Lymington Yacht Club in the west.

The Solent Branch of RIN is fortunate in that most navigational activities are covered by world class organisations located in the area. For example, we have Ordnance Survey, NATS, Surrey Satellite Technology.

Hampshire is also the UK's leading maritime region with the major ports of Southampton and Portsmouth, the MCA , RYA, RNLI and of course the RN and MN. It is also the home of many companies involved in the building of ships and marine equipment such as our Corporate Member, ECDIS Ltd.

The latter part of the programme period was particularly active. As well as two meetings, in March we took part in the local "Big Bang" exhibition for young people, where we demonstrated new navigational technology in action.

April also brought with it two meetings. The first was a visit to QinectiQ in Gosport where we learned about ship stability in rough weather and the opportunity to visit the massive ship testing tanks. Also in April was our AGM at the Warsash Maritime Academy, this event included a presentation about the design of the new Type 26 Global Combat ship which will replace the RN's ageing Type 42 destroyers.

May was no less busy. Our annual visit to the Royal Lymington YC was as popular as ever. The speaker on this occasion was John Lang, former Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents . John's topic for the evening was "The Loss of the Titanic - a fresh look" His book on the subject is a recommended read.. Bad weather prevented the Southampton University RN Unit's patrol boat HMS Blazer coming alongside at the RLymYC, however the vessel's CO, Lt Amie Jackson RN and her trainee officers did join us by car. Our local Sea Cadets did not miss out because the weather, instead of a passage back from Lymington they were treated to a day out in HMS Blazer on the more sheltered waters of the Eastern Solent.

Also, in May, thanks to the History of Air Navigation Special Interest Group had the opportunity to visit the Tangmere Air Museum to see the exhibits, have lunch and listen to two talks. Details of these can be found in their own newsletter.

With its links with the Southampton URNU, the Warsash Maritime Academy, local Sea Cadets and most important local exhibitions, the Solent Branch places great emphasis on encouraging young people in the region to take an interest in navigational topics. We have a prize which is in memory of a very active local member, It is the Captain John Milner for navigation which is is awarded each year at the Warsash Maritime Academy. This year's winner was Mr Erik Lundgren, a cadet with the Ship Training Group of Saga Shipping.

Progress is being made on the RIN Solent 's programme for the 2013/14 programme which will provide monthly meetings and visits across the region. Details of these will be published in Navigation News and on the website.

We do not limit ourselves to human navigation and our first meeting will be on the subject of how animals navigate above and under the waves. This meeting will be held on board the historic vessel SS Shieldhall on 24th September 2013 in Southampton Docks.

To be kept up-to-date on our activities, visit the Solent Branch Section of www.rin.org.uk.

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